Closure operator for ditching wheel bucket backs



Dec. 11, 1951 D. E. GRAHAM ETAL CLOSURE OPERATOR FOR DITCHING WHEEL BUCKET BACKS 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed Oct. 3, 1947 Dec. 11, "1951 D. E. GRAHAM ETAL 2,578,058 CLOSURE OPERATOR FOR DITCHING WHEEL BUCKET BACKS 2 Sl-lEETS-Si-EET 2 Filed Oct. 5, 1947 ENTORS Patented Dec. 11, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CLOSURE OPERATOR FOR DITCHING WHEEL BUCKET BACKS Dempsey Elzy Graham and Lattrell Graham, Amarillo, Tex.

Application October 3, 1947, Serial No. 777,812

3 Claims.

mud as they pass over a dirt conveyor mounted on the digging machine.

More particularly the buckets are firmly secured to the annular side wall-s of the digging wheel and have backs'hinged thereto with spring and cable means, arranged so as not to interfere with the digging and unloading operations, for maintaining the backs in normally closed position with enough tension to hold them so that small rocks, dirt and mud will be carried by the digging wheel up over the conveyor where the buckets are successively unloaded.

A mud extractor is demountably secured on the frame structure of the digging machine within the confines of the digging wheel and has a scraper at its upper end for scraping the buckets and hinged backs which are opened by the scraper successively, as the digging wheel rotates. This scraper is particularly efficient for removing mud which sticks in the buckets and dislodging stones. When the mud extractor is not needed it is removed and the buckets operated without the scraper, thus the wear on the buckets by the scrap-er is avoided.

A particular object of our invention is to provide an improved bucket construction wherein the back is hinged to a reinforced rear portion of the bucket and is held closed by means of cables connected with spring elements in offset cylindrical casings mounted on the digging wheel side walls just in front of the bucket in a man ner so as not to interfere with the mud extractor or clearing prong. This mud extractor or clearing prong is mounted so as not to scrape 0n the bucket itself or the hinge element because if it did, it would interfere with the bucket construction and cause undue wear and the extractor would not function properly in swinging the hinged bucket backs as the buckets pass over the prong. Thus, not all of the mud is removed by the extractor prong but a greater portion, about 95 percent, is removed, which is a large percentage in sticky soil.

Further features, objects and advantages of our invention will be set forth in detail in the follow:

ing specification supplemented by the accom-l panying drawings forming a part of this application.

In the drawings:

"Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a ditching machine showing a ditching wheel with improved buckets and a bucket scraper formed in accordance with our invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged, longitudinal, vertical sectional view through one of the buckets and one of the spring casings.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Figure 2..

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, Figures 1 and 4 illustrate a digging or ditching wheel l0 comprising a pair of annular walls or rings I I, each havin outwardly projecting sprocket teeth i2 which are engaged by a pair of sprocket drive gears 13 on both sides of the digging wheel. A portion of the ditching machine frame member I4 is shown providing a support for bearing members IS in which the shaft I6 is journalled. Driving sprockets I3 are mounted on the shaft l6 adjacent the ends thereof. On one end of shaft I6 is a driving wheel ll which is operated by a usual type of motor carried by the ditching machine.

Frame members I4 carry idle wheel supports l8 which engage the annular ditching wheel side walls II, and a lower frame structure [9 carries similar supporting guide wheels 20. Sprocket wheels l3 and the supporting guide wheels l8 and 20 provide the support and drive for the ditching wheel ID, as well known in such ditching machines, and a relatively fixed curved plate 2! secured at its lower end to frame structure l9 and to an intermediate portion of frame member l4 provides a bottom for the inverted buckets of dirt elevated by the digging wheel Hi. This plate 2| terminates just above a belt conveyor 22 supported by bearings 23 or the like, carried by frame members l4 in the usual manner.

A particular feature of our invention resides in the improved buckets 24 mounted on the periphery of the ditching wheel l0. These buckets comprise curved plates 25, secured by bolts or the like, to the side walls I l and the leading edges of the buckets may be provided with digging teeth 26. The rear portions of these bucket plates 25 are heavily reinforced and provided, with hinge elements 21 which carry the back members 28, normally closing the trailing ends of buckets 24 and extending substantially perpendicular to the inner edges of ditching wheel side walls I l.

The bucket back members 28 are yieldingly maintained in their closed positions by means of springs 29, engaged in casings 30 which are fixed on the edges of the side walls II, as best shown in Figures 2 and 3, so as not to interfere with digging and unloading operations.

Cables 3| are secured at one end to spring abutments 32, within the casings 39, and the other ends of the cables extend through apertures 33 in back members 28 and are engaged by tension adjusting clamps 34, abutting the backs of back members. 28, so that the closing pressure exerted on the swinging back members 28 may be regulated to provide the required working pressure.

These spring pressed swinging back members 28 operate normally to elevate the dirt, stones, and the like, along the curved plate 2! and dump their contents beyond the upper end of this plate:

on the belt conveyor 22. In the event that a large stone or the like should clog the buckets. at the lower entry end of plate 2!, springs 29 will yield and permit the back members to swing outwardly, thereby enabling the stone to be dislodged and permit the buckets to pass the plate 2! with out doingdamage to the buckets, their back, or to plate 21.. i

Howeveninexcavating inmud which will stick in and clog the; buckets, we provide a scraper member 35 for removing the mud. This scraper has a. detachable mounting, 35 for supporting it on frame members !4, from which mounting it curves upwardly over belt conveyors 22, ending in a clearing prong 37, substantially the width of the. space between ditching wheel side walls Ii and the sides of buckets 24, and at such a height that the buckets and back closing cables 3| will pass over' the upper. end thereof. The prong 37 is'engaged by the hinged backs 28 for swinging these backs upwardly as shown in Figures 1 and 2. This substantially cleans the buckets of mud which is deposited on the conveyor 22 and. leaves the. buckets in condition for further excavating operation.

Having described a highly satisfactory embodiment' of our invention what we claim and desireto secure by LettersPatent is:

1. In an excavating machine including a supporting frame-structure, a ditching wheel including'a pair of spaced annular side walls, support ing and driving means for rotating said wheel structure, a bottom guide plate attached to the supporting frame structure following the annular walls upwardly, and conveyor means beyond and below the upperend of said guide plate, a plurality of excavating buckets on said. ditching wheel comprising curved plates with their ends secured to said spaced annular walls of the ditching wheel flaring outwardly in their forward directions with forward excavating edges, bucket backshinged to the outermost rear ends of the bucket plates and normally closing. said ends of the buckets and the space between the said annular walls of the ditching wheel, spring means for retaining said swinging bucket back members in said normally closed positions, said springs com prising helical compression springs, cylindrical housings for said springs secured to the ditching wheel annular walls forward of and at the sides of the buckets and cables connected to the forward ends of the springs, extending therethrough and secured to the bucket swinging backs at their rear ends.

2. In an excavating machine. including supporting frame structure, a ditching. wheel including a pair of spaced annular side walls, supporting and driving means for rotating said wheel structure, a bottom guide plate attached to the supporting frame structure following the annular walls upwardly, and conveyor means beyond and below the upper end of said guide plate, a plurality of excavating buckets on said ditching wheel comprising curved plates with their ends secured to said spaced annular walls of the ditching wheel flaring outwardly in their forward directions with forward excavating edges,, bucket backs hinged to the outermost rear ends of the bucket plates and normally closing said ends of the buckets and the space between the said annular walls of the ditching wheel, spring means for retaining said swinging bucket back members in said normally closed positions, said springs comprising helical compression springs, cylindrical housings for said springs secured to the ditching wheel annular. walls forward of and at the sides ofthe buckets and cables connected to the forward ends of the springs, extending therethrough and secured to the bucket swinging backs at their rear ends, and adjustable clamps on. the rear ends of said cables at the back of said swing. ing bucket backs whereby the tension. onv the. cables for closing the bucket backs may be ad--. justed, to afford. a proper amount of pressure on the bucket backs for yieldingly holding them closed for operation.

3. In an excavating machine, a supporting frame structure, a ditching wheel including a pair of spaced annular side walls rotatabl supported on said frame structure. a bottom guide plate positioned adjacent to the inner periphery of said sideplates and attached to said supporting frame, a plurality of buckets each open at the bottom arranged in end to end spaced relation positioned exteriorly of. said side Walls adjacent the periphery thereof. and secured to said side walls, said. guide plate being conformably shaped to and extending along for only a portion.

. ofthe inner periphery of said side walls and clos-v cent the open trailing end thereof and connected to said trailing end for. swinging movement about an axis transverse of said side walls into and out I of closing engagement with said trailing end of said bucket, a plurality of spaced longitudinally extending digging teeth projecting from the leading open end of each of. said buckets, and spring means positioned adjacent the leading end of each. bucket and operatively connected to the back of the associated bucket for urging the back into closing engagement with the trailing open end of the bucket, said spring means embodying a coil spring positioned adjacent the leading end of each of said buckets and operativel connected to they adjacent ditching wheel side wall, and flexible means having one end connected to said spring and having the other end connected to the back of the adjacent bucket.

DEMPSEY ELZY GRAHAM. LATTRELL GRAHAM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 907,078 Miller Dec. 15, 1908 939,731 Miller Nov. 9, 1909 1,215,791 French Feb. 13, 1917 1,386,987 Brown Aug. 9, 1921 

